Apparatus for treating web material



E. P. MULLEN APPARATUS FOR TREATING WEB MATERIAL Dec. 9, 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Nov. 25, 1950 IN VEN TOR.

WEM

E. P. MULLEN APPARATUS FOR TREATING WEB MATERIAL.

Dec. 9, 1952 2, SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed NOV. 25 1950 INVENTOR. Imam 7 Manga Patented Dec. 9, 1952 I UNITED STATES PATENT GFFHCE APPARATUS FOR TREATING WEB MATERIAL Edward P. Mullen, Somerset, Mass.

Application November 25, 1950, Serial No. 197,599

4 Claims. (Cl. 26-4) This invention relates to an apparatus and method of treating web material, more particularly to the finishing of fabric.

Heretofore, it has been usual in the finishing of fabric, where mercerizing is done, to immerse the cloth in caustic in an apparatus known as a padder box, and as the web of fabric leaves the padder box, it enters a tenter frame and passes through the tenter frame where it is stretched will be applied by a similar apparatus while the goods are on the tenter frame; thus at all applications of the caustic and the washing of the caustic from the fabric, the web will be under tension where little or no shrinkage can occur, thus maintaining the width and length of the fabric during and after the mercerizing operation.

With reference to the drawings, I provide a and then passes through some means for wash- 1O tenter frame which is not shown in detail; howing the caustic material out of the fabric. Durever, parts which are illustrated p e the ing this padding step the fabric shrinks materialpr t standards It. It which ar at spa d 1oly both widthwise and lengthwise when the causcations along the length of the ine with tic is applied and further shrinks during washtracks I at either S f t machine for ing. The stretching which is given on the tenter guiding the tenter Chain having clips I l Which frame assists to some extent in restricting the travel along the frame and p and Stretch a shrinking which occurs after padding but yet a fabric 3 widthwise- The rails Il m y be a considerable amount of shrinking does occur and justed as to Width as is usual with tenter frames a consequent loss of fabric yardage takes place. of this character for accommodating Various One of the objects of this invention is to so Widths of (310thtreat the cloth with caustic and thereafter wash The apparatus which I pp y w o sist i the caustic from the cloth that this shrinking each instance of a means for w i d omwill be materially reduced prises a spray head designated generally l5 and. Another object of invention is to provide Comprises a tube Slotted On Opposite an arrangement so that the caustic may be sides as at I! (Fig. 2) extending lengthwise of the covered tube which is arranged laterally or widthwise of Another object of this invention is to reduce the frame. This tubular center section l6 has the volume f liquids which are used and at the non-slotted end sections [8 which telescope over same time provide an opportunity for recovering its ends and are fixed the ails and by the caustic from the ater here desired brackets '9. Thus, as the rails are moved to pro- Another object of invention is to rovide Vide adjustment, these end Sections of apparatus which may be substituted f the the spray head 15 will be moved to cause the padder for applying the caustic and an apparatus spray head to accommodate the width between to be substituted for the washing mechanism for the railswashing the caustic from the fabric, A tank 20 comprising a cylindrical shell is con- With these and other objects in View, the inmated to the Spray head by a conduit 2i and vention consists of certain novel features of conh tank is supplied by l q which y be struction, as will be more fully described and water for washing, through Conduit 22 y means particularly pointed out in the appended claims. of the p p 23 Which a s Wa from some In the accompanying drawings: suitable source of supply through conduit 24. Figure 1 is a fragmental elevational view partly Within the tank 25 some heating means is p oin section showing a tenter frame with the apvided which in this instance comprises the injecparatus which I provide as used with this frame; tion of steam through the conduit 25 which is Figure 2 is a sectional view showing the upcontrolled by valve 26. Also, within this tank, right heater in section; 4.5 there is a baffle 27 which shields the opening into Figure 3 is a top plan view of the suction mean the conduit 2 I. Thus, the first stage of Washing for drawing liquid through the fabric; occurs by the flow of water from the supply con- Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the duit 24 through the pump and through conduit flow of liquid which is used. 22 to the tank 20 where it is heated and rises, as In proceeding with this invention I utilize a shown by the arrows, to flow over the top edge of tenter frame and eliminate the washing mechthe dam or bafile 2? into the conduit 2! and out anism which is used for washing caustic from through the spray head IE to drop onto the horithe fabric after it passes through the tenter zontal fabric which is travelling beneath it while frame as I will apply water to the upper surface being stretched in the tenter frame. Further, of the horizontal run of fabric while in the tenter there is also provided the application of steam frame and draw the water applied to the upper through a head 28 which may be fixed with relasurface through the fabric as one step of washing, tion to the fabric so that further heating is apthe apparatus being so arranged that the water plied through the washing water on the fabric. which is picked up from the first step of washing Below the fabric 13 and at a location generally will be transferred to be reapplied in the same below the heads I5 and 28 for the application of manner at another location nearer the commencement of the travel of the fabric through the machine. In some cases, the causticmaterial the washing water and steam, I will provide a plurality of tubes to which suction is applied. Each of these tubes comprises a central portion 39 (Figs.

3 2 and 3) which is slotted as at 3| and end portions 32 which telescope over these center portions 30 and which are also slotted as at 33. These end portions are fixed to the rails H by means of supports 34; thus, they will move with. the rails as adjustment for widths of different fabrics occur. The center tube 30 is supported also through a drain pipe 35 which is fixed to a header 36 and receives the water or other liquid which is applied through the heads I and 28. A plurality of these tubes 39 are located at spaced intervals along the web and serve to discharge each of the tubes into the header 36. A pump 37 causes a reduced pressure in the header 36 and consequently to each of the tubes 30 through their connection and serves to draw the liquid or water through the tubes 30, header 36 and discharge it through conduit 38 into another tank in which is essentially a duplicate of the tank 28 and which provides a second step of the washing operation using the liquid which is first passed through the fabric in the first step previously described over again. A third step of operation using a tank 50 and a fourth step of operation using a tank 60 are provided where similar washings occur progressively using the same washing water and progressively accumulating more caustic washed out of the fabric as the steps progress toward the starting of the fabric through the tenter frame. After the last washing step is performed, the caustic laden wash water will be drawn through tube 79 to some point of reclaiming where the water may be removed and the caustic recovered for further use or this diluted caustic solution may be used as it comes from this machine in other processes where a more diluted treatment of caustic in other finishing operations is to be performed.

Beneath the fabric there is also provided a drip tray II which collects drippings from the fabric which have not been collected through the mechanism above mentioned, this drip tray overflowing through pipe 12 to a float controlled tray 13 having a ball 14 for controlling valve 15 to permit the liquid to be discharged should it reach greater than a certain level 18 and transferred through conduit 11 into the suction device 31 which removes the liquid from one of the stages of operation.

In some cases I may desire to applycaustic material directly to the fabric while held in the tenter frame so that shrinkage cannot originally occur and I utilize an apparatus very similar to that which has been heretofore utilized for washing. In the washing operation, however, the water has a counter-flow or a travel in an opposite direction to the direction of travel of the fabric through the tenter frame and in the application of caustic which will be near the entrance of the fabric into the tenter frame, this counterflow action does not occur. In this case, I may utilize two units or steps of operation. The caustic will be supplied in the strength desired through a conduit 80 and forced by pump 8| into the tank 82 where it will be suitably heated by heaters similar to 25 and discharged through the head 84 onto the fabric I3. This caustic will be collected by the suction tubes 85, delivered to the header 85, and thence by conduit 81 to pump 88 and again delivered to another tank 89 from whence the operation is repeated as in the previous step of application of the caustic. The caustic is thus supplied through spray nozzle 90 and picked up by suction tubes 9| and delivered a 4 point for reclaiming. A trough 94 may be below the fabric at the point of caustic application to pick up any strong caustic which failed to be picked up by the suction devices and will be overfiowed into a float controlled trough 95 to return it to a point for recirculation.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for treating web material comprising a tenter frame for engaging and travelling the material under tension means for applying liquid on one side of the web, means collecting the liquid on the other side of the web and reapplyin'g the same liquid at a location near the commencement of travel of the web on the frame.

2. An apparatus for treating web material comprising a tenter frame for engaging and travelling the material under tension means for applying liquid on one side of the web, suction means collecting the liquid on the other side of the web and reapplying the same liquid at a location near the commencement of travel of the web on the frame.

3. An apparatus for mercerizing web material comprising a tenter frame for engaging and travelling the material under tension means for applying caustic to the web at one location near the commencement of the travel of the web on the frame, means for applying at a more advanced location water on one side of the web, means collecting the water on the other side of the web and reapplying the same water at a location near the commencement of travel of the web on the frame.

4. An apparatus for mercerizing web material comprising a tenter frame for engaging an'd'travelling the material under tension, means for applying caustic to the web at one location near the commencement of the travel of the web on the frame, means for collecting the caustic on the other side of the web and reapplying the same caustic at a location near the commencement of the travel of the web on the frame, means for applying at a more advanced location water on one side of the web, means collecting the water on the other side of the web and reapplying the same water at a location near the commencement of travel of the web on the frame.

EDWARD P; ltIUL-LEN;

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record -in'- the file of this patent:

UNITED' STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 311,3 19 Meikle Jan. 27,1885 1,058,459 Petzold Apr. 8,1913 1,026,435 Voegli Apr; 26, 192 7 1,717,870 Bosshard June 18, 1929 1,752,712 Uttrich Apr..l, 1930 1,893,197 Cohn I Jan. 3; 1933 1,980,493 Nitsche Nov; 13, 1934 2,005,352 Shaw ,June 18, 1935' 2,045,755 Cohn June 30, 1936 2,064,512 Wilson .et a1 Dec, 15, 1936 2,294,141' Tr-imble Aug; 25, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country 7 Date 4,452 GreatBritain of 1890 OTHER REFERENCES The Finishing of Woven Fabrics}? by E. Midgley Longmans, Green-& 00., 1929, pages 133 150. Copy in Div. 21. 7 I 

